ST. JOSEPH, MI – “June started our peak selling period with a 10 percent increase in houses sold and closed over May. However like May, June closed sales did not carry the surge that we had experienced from February until April that was a result of the Stimulus Tax Credit.  June closed sales were 10 percent lower than in June of 2009.  Since buyers had until June 30^th to close sales, this may indicate that pending sales did not get closed or that buyers did not take advantage of the tax credit. Congress has passed an extension of the Homebuyer Tax Credit closing deadline to September 30, 2010 so we will have to see if the extension will have any effect,” stated Gary Walter, EVP, of the Southwestern Michigan Association of REALTORS^®, Inc.

Last month our expectation was that we would see a residual effect from the Tax Credit because buyers have until June 30^th to close on their transactions.  Opposite of our expectation, May was a mixed bag.  May did not carry the surge that we had experienced from February until April.  We had an 8 percent drop in the number of houses sold compared to last year and a 9 percent drop from April this year.  The average selling price stayed the same as last year and increased by 3 percent over that in April.  The median price tumbled 18 percent from a year ago.  This indicates that lower priced homes, perhaps including foreclosures, sold and closed.  Now on the other hand, the early selling surge this year has kept year-to-date numbers up above last year.